A model pose next to a Chevrolet Camaro on display at an auto show in Beijing in 2009 / Ng Han Guan AP

by Kelsey Mays, Cars.com

by Kelsey Mays, Cars.com

The Detroit News reports the country could export more cars than ever before this year. Auto exports could reach 2 million cars and trucks in 2013, up from around 1.8 million in 2012. Most will come from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.

American auto exports from all automakers, meanwhile, increased 82% between 2009 and 2012, according to the International Trade Commission.

U.S.-built cars shipped to China are nearly six times their 2009 levels, and the Middle East, Africa and South America could get larger chunks down the road. But that could all be temporary, as currency fluctuations and increasing shipping costs put new barriers on trade - even as new free-trade proposals aim to reduce them. Automakers increasingly invest in plants across local markets that allow them to build cars in the regions where shoppers buy them, whether it's Tennessee or Thailand.

Mexico and Canada account for about half of U.S. auto exports these days, down from 80% in 2004, according to the News. U.S. auto imports eclipse exports by a long shot. The trade deficit still tops $100 billion. But the margin is shrinking.